Page 97 of No One’s Daughter

The need itched beneath my skin, restless, frantic. Every thought collided with the next—Claire, the Ninth, Davien, lies, betrayal, fear, panic—

I couldn’t breathe properly.

Couldn’t focus.

Behind me, I heard the faint creak of movement. He’d sat down. Calm and ever watchful.

Of course.

I paced the space back and forth, rattling my brain on what to do. How to get her back, how to do it without his help.

I’d teleported before. Could I teleport to her and out again?

But I didn’t even know where she was. Or how to access that particular power. Fuck my fucking life. I was so fucked.

Seconds turned into minutes, and I kept pacing, my breathing no less calm.

“Fuck, okay, listen,” he said suddenly, pushing up from the chair like he couldn’t sit still for a second longer, pacing the cramped space alongside me with a restless, agitated energy that felt unfamiliar on him. His hand dragged through his hair again, jaw tight, eyes flicking to me and then away like he was trying to piece something together faster than his thoughts could keep up. “What if I was to make a blood pact with you?”

​“A what,” I scoffed, not at all liking the sound of that. Not one bit.

​“A blood pact,” he repeated, slower this time. “I could swear to protect you, to aid you and… to never betray you.”

​“Again, you mean.”

​The jab landed.

​I saw it in the way his shoulders stiffened, the way his gaze dropped a fraction of a second before he forced it back up to meet mine.

​“Ailsa, please,” he said, and there was something raw in his voice now, stripped back. “I didn’t mean to keep all that from you. I… I don’t know what I thought to be honest. If I could undo my choices, I would.”

​“But you can’t.”

​“No,” he admitted quietly. “I can’t”

​A beat passed, then he stepped closer, slowly, like he was approaching something fragile.

​“So let me do this instead,” he said, his voice low but steady. “Let me swear my allegiance to you through a blood pact. Valerius is dangerous, so much more dangerous than you could imagine. There’s no way I can let you walk into that den of vipers alone.”

​I looked at him.

​Really looked.

​He didn’t look like the man who had dragged me into this mess weeks ago, cold and unyielding and impossible to read. He was different now, tired maybe, frayed at the edges. But beneath that, he seemed… certain.

​“Let me prove myself to you,” he said. “Let me protect you.”

​“Why?” I asked, because why the sudden change in heart? “Why would you do that?”

​“Because I believe in you,” his tone was so much softer now, quieter too, almost like he hated admitting that part out loud. And fuck, despite every cell in my body screaming at me to not trust a word that came out of his mouth—something about the vulnerability in his expression told me he was being honest. He believed in me for some reason, probably more than I had ever even dared to believe in myself. That part scared me more than anything, but Valerius had Claire, it wasn’t up for debate. I was going to get her back, and I couldn’t be picky about help.

​“Fine,” I exhaled. “But I swear to fuck, Davien, if you ever lie to me again you’ll wish you never met me.”

​“Understood.”

​No hesitation, no argument, just that.

​“Good,” I muttered, scrubbing a hand over my face. “Because I have about a million questions but right now I’ll settle for just one.”